Drought: Prices of chicken slashed!

While the veggies are frowning due to rise in price of vegetables — which show no sign of coming down — non-vegetarians have a reason to cheer as chicken price has come down drastically over the past 14 days.

The price of broiler chicken, which had shot up to Rs 120 per kg, has now come down to Rs 80.However, there is a slight variation in prices at outlets situated in various parts of the city.

The major reason for the downswing in price is said to be festival season. Shravana month, when a majority of Hindus abstain from consuming non-vegetarian food, and Ramzan, when Muslims fast, have left a few takers for the fowls.

But, this is not the only reason for the prices coming down. According to a poultry owner Venkat Prabhu, the production has increased and it becomes necessary to balance supply and demand. It becomes inevitable to slash the prices as chicken cannot be kept for long due to various reasons, including spread of diseases.

However, Seshanarayan, sales promotion officer of the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), has a different version. He attributes the slash in chicken prices to drought!

Seshanarayan said there was not much increase in production of poultry. “There are 62 poultry farms in Mysore district, which supply chicken to the market and vendors.
The price of poultry feeds, which was available at Rs 1,100 per quintal is now being sold at Rs 1,500 per quintal.

Reason: Poultry feeds comprise of oil cake of maize, groundnut, sunflower seeds, rice bran, limestone and soya. As the district is reeling under drought, procuring products required for poultry feeds has become difficult, resulting in hike in prices,” he said.

“The life period of broiler chicken is said to be two months and that of layers is 72 weeks.
Small poultry farmers, unable to feed the fowls are selling them early, resulting in more supply to the market and reduced prices,” Seshanarayan said.
“The prices would resume once Shravana and Ramzan is over,” he predicted.